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Blizzard previews the Jade Forest
We're all going to have the chance to step into the Jade Forest in two weeks, and Blizzard is preparing us all with this preview of the zone. It's packed with screenshots and has a Q&A with quest designer Helen Cheng giving us a tour of the zone's highlights, explaining who the factions are and what locations we'll be seeing when we explore. It also places the Horde and Alliance conflict into the beginning context. So go ahead and check out Blizzard's official zone preview of the Jade Forest now. It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
Visit Blizzard CMs at PAX Prime
No, Blizzard doesn't have a booth of its own at PAX Prime in Seattle, but that doesn't mean you can't catch up with some of our favorite CMs there. There will be four -- count them, four -- Blizzard CMs making an appearance at the con. Nethaera and Vaeflare will be at the NVIDIA booth, and Zarhym and Bashiok are hanging out at the Intel booth. So if you're at the con, there is absolutely no reason you shouldn't head over and say hi. Just check out the testimonials. You don't get that kind of floating skull satisfaction without doing something right, people. With there being no BlizzCon this year, how many chances are you going to have to meet cool folks who work on the game? It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
Blizzard previews the Spirit of Harmony and profession changes
Mists of Pandaria makes changes to a wide variety of game systems, from your class talents and abilities to how tanking works, and professions aren't immune to this sweeping revamp of just about everything. On the official site, we're being treated to a nice preview that covers the new Spirit of Harmony crafting material and how it will be used in the game. The Spirit of Harmony is a material used in crafting, yes, and it assembles from motes like primals did in The Burning Crusade, but it's also a bind-on-pickup item that can be traded for various benefits, depending on your profession. Nethaera breaks it down for us: Nethaera -- Professions: Living in Perfect Harmony Here are some examples of the many ways that Spirit of Harmony can be used: Alchemy: Purchase an extra Transmute. Archaeology: Purchase a restored artifact. Cooking: Exchange for an Iron Paw Token. Enchanting: Buy reagents. Engineering: New mounts and personal goggles. Herbalism: Purchase herbs. Inscription: Purchase rare inks. Jewelcrafting: Use to purchase extra daily discoveries. Tailoring, Blacksmithing, Leatherworking: Used to create epic items. Purchasing materials may not ultimately be the most efficient way to gain resources, but it can be an added convenience to purchase something with Spirit of Harmony rather than going back into the world to get it. The Spirit of Harmony vendor can be found in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. source While the Spirit of Harmony will be BoP to start, Nethaera does mention that it may become bind to account to help players with crafting or profession specialist alts to get the most use out of the system, although that's not been decided yet. For now, it'll be bind on equip. Head over to the official site to get the rundown on how the Spirit of Harmony will work for crafting. It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
Why we don't need an end boss in Mists of Pandaria
In answering a forum post about the point of going to Pandaria (and let me just say, it's kind of a sad thing for me when adventurers need a reason to go to a new land and kill stuff for loot), Nethaera has gotten me thinking about Mists and what it says about us. Frankly, it's not just the big bad syndrome at work, either. That's certainly a part of it: We're conditioned by The Burning Crusade, Wrath and Cata to think of expansions like series or seasons of a television program, with an overarching threat at the end that ties the experience up with a nice little bow and unifies what we did. While The Burning Crusade effectively subverted this itself with the Sunwell Plateau raid (dethroning Illidan as the end boss of his own expansion), both Wrath and Cataclysm held true to the paradigm. Really, they almost had to. Even though there was a raid after ICC, no one mistook Halion for anything but a teaser, and there's nothing going on raid-wise in Cataclysm after Dragon Soul. With Mists of Pandaria, we're returning to the feeling, if not the execution, of classic World of Warcraft, with the world itself and our exploration of it being the focus. This doesn't mean that the previous expansions didn't have plenty of world to explore. But Mists of Pandaria sets up the theme of players and their actions and what they do to the world as well as what the world does to them. The world is full of wonders and terrors, and rather than picking one and building the expansion around it, we get to see what trouble we can get into. I find this a fascinating return to form for a few reasons.
The challenge of balancing content
As I've mentioned before, I was slow to appreciate Cataclysm. One of the reasons for that was due to my schedule and those of others I was guilded with. I hit 85 fairly early, and those few who had as well simply didn't have the same schedule as me. This led to my having to run dungeons and then heroics in random groups using the Dungeon Finder tool. And the heroic dungeons on launch were not tuned to be friendly for this experience. I cannot be called a casual player. I'm a Savior of Azeroth, heroic Dragon Soul-geared in my tank and DPS specs. I raid three nights a week. So when I'm telling you those dungeons were not tuned to be friendly for this experience, you can dismiss me as another casual player if you like, but you'd be wrong. Those dungeons were tuned to the point where you needed to have a cohesive group that knew one another and could either communicate quickly or use a method of communication outside of the reach of most PUGs. Especially in the gear that existed at the time. Various methods were attempted to balance this, including a stacking buff for random dungeon groups. Now Nethaera explains Blizzard's reasoning on why heroic dungeons are rebalanced from time to time, and it's an argument that is easily extended to all content. I don't always agree with the rebalancing efforts Blizzard takes (my opinion on the Firelands adjustments was mixed), but I think the principle behind them is very sound.
Blizzard talks Diablo III hotfixes, delay of real-money auction house
In a post on the official Diablo III forums earlier today, Community Manager Nethaera addressed a few of the concerns that have been brought up in the game's momentous first week. Neth first linked to an up-to-date list of hotfixes that have been implemented thus far. For the spoiler-wary among you, be warned that if you haven't completed the game on Normal difficulty, some of the hotfixes might be spoilerific. Now that you're thoroughly warned that there may be spoilers, head on over to the list of hotfixes if you dare. Neth also advised players that additional server maintenance will be required in time and that there's a game patch inbound for sometime next week. She also took the time to address the real-money auction house. Although Neth states that the service is "coming soon," it's been delayed due to post-launch difficulties. The team apparently needs "a bit more time to iron out the existing general stability and gameplay issues" before the real-money auction house is ready for launch. Players shouldn't expect the auction house to be ready in May despite initial plans for it to go online on the 22nd, and there wasn't a solid date to look forward to. Neth went on to assure players that neither D3 nor Battle.net servers have been compromised, despite all the hubbub about security concerns that's been filling the air the last few days. In all of the individual Diablo III-related compromise cases we've investigated, none have occurred after a physical Battle.net Authenticator or Battle.net Mobile Authenticator app was attached to the player's account, and we have yet to find any situation where a Diablo III player's account was accessed outside of "traditional" compromise methods (i.e. someone logging using an account's login email and password). She reminded players to exercise constant vigilance by practicing smart password management, scanning for malware and viruses regularly, and generally being savvy.
Blizzard committed to keeping a sense of community
Despite some players' objections that the Dungeon and Raid Finder tools have made dungeon- and raid-running too impersonal, Blizzard has responded that it has a commitment to keeping a sense of community. Nethaera took to the official boards to discuss the tough job of balancing the sense of community against meeting the needs of the community while making sure players feel connected to people around them. Nethaera echoes a very important point, one that just doesn't get enough play in the MMO genre and its contenders -- people play whatever MMO their friends are playing. People go where the people are. The ingenious part is that while players are deriding the Dungeon and Raid Finder tools for destroying community and tearing people apart, the new Real ID instancing is making grouping and playing with new people I had never imagined I would play with a possibility. New communities are being formed. Just because the community doesn't look or feel like it did seven years ago does not mean that a sense of community is gone. It's just in different places. Hit the jump for Nethaera's full post. Sound off in the comments about how you think Blizzard should go about fostering its community.
Blizzard yoinks Diablo III companion pets due to excessive cuteness
Charges of extreme cuteness have been directed at Blizzard ever since the company unveiled its Panda-themed expansion for World of Warcraft. If a new post on the Battle.net forums is any indication, that won't be an issue for Diablo III. A Blizz community manager penned an update regarding D3's beta patch 10, and among the notes is the fact that the game's companion scrolls are going away temporarily. "The companion pets felt like they were mandatory to maximize play efficiency and some of the pets were too cutesy for the gritty, dark world of Sanctuary," Nethaera wrote. The pets (and scrolls) aren't gone for good, as the devs have plans for "a much cooler system (both mechanically and visually)" in the future.
Raid Finder items reclassified for intended classes
Many items in the Raid Finder have been able to be rolled on by classes that might not get the best use out of them -- for instance, mages rolling on spirit cloth or warriors rolling on one-handed agility axes. Blizzard has confirmed that it has updated many items' classifications in Raid Finder to only be rolled on by the classes for whom the item is intended. Now, classes that can use the item the best will apply the roll bonus correctly. I am very glad that Blizzard is changing these items' classifications and making the Raid Finder even more fair for players. So far, the Raid Finder has been an enormous success, and with some tweaks and changes down the road, it's here to stay in a big way. Hit the jump for the announcement and full list of updated classes that can roll need on many Dragon Soul items in the Raid Finder.
The Cataclysm: A critical examination
My personal opinion on the Cataclysm expansion varied greatly as the expansion unfolded. At different points in the expansion, I was very negative, slightly negative, then outright positive about it as an experience. A recent thread on the forums discussing the overall view of Cataclysm as a failed expansion drew Nethaera's commentary, and frankly I think what she has to say is worth discussing. I agree with a lot of it, disagree with some, but think it's valuable to look at where the design intent in the examination of the expansion is going. Nethaera You are mistaking the developers looking at the game with a critical eye with the claim that it was a "failure". We've seen a wide spectrum of opinions over Cataclysm and we're not afraid to look at what worked and didn't work (as we do with each expansion and game as a whole) and try to find better ways of doing things. I heard differing opinions overall during BlizzCon, but not once did I get the impression that any of those opinions boiled down to "Cataclysm sucks" as a whole. They had key elements that they disliked or thought could be improved on, but throwing the whole thing out the window as a "failure" is and should be considered a bit extreme don't you think? As always, we want to keep learning and growing from each iteration of the game and that means that we're going to do that by continuing to look for your constructive feedback as well. source
Blizzard comments on Outland and Northrend leveling in Cataclysm
Community manager Nethaera commented recently on players' concerns that the new Cataclysm leveling experience from levels 1-60 now severely overshadows the relatively old Outlands and even Northrend content. The gist? Questing and leveling in Outlands and Northrend is leaps and bounds better than the original World of Warcraft, and updating the 60-80 leveling experience is not high on Blizzard's priority list.
Shifting Perspectives: Do restoration druids need a cooldown?
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Shifting Perspectives for cat, bear, restoration, and balance druids. This Tuesday, we equivocate on whether a point made in Shifting Perspectives: Healers, selfishness, and trouble ahead was prescient or just another beneficiary of Allie's usual dumb luck. The title of today's Shifting column is maybe a little misleading. Strictly speaking, restoration already has a cooldown -- the still-controversial Disco Soul Patch Groovy Tree that has wildly gesticulated its way into all our hearts (well, some peoples' hearts) -- but now the developers are considering other possibilities in light of some data from tier 11 raids. Not that we have access to said data (or anything to go on besides our usual rampant speculation), but a few trends have emerged from tier 11 that make the possibility of getting a big cooldown a bit more likely.
Upcoming healer changes
Neth has just announced some healer changes that will be rolling out in a hotfix soon (likely later today; stay tuned here, and we'll post when the new list of hotfixes is released). The two big things to come out of this are: Power Word: Shield cost is going up by 33%. This nerfs disc priests. Shaman's Purification now increases healing effectiveness by 25%, up from 10%. The full statements are as follows: Nethaera Since the release of patch 4.0.6, we've been keeping an eye on healers and how they are performing and are currently in the process of making some additional adjustments. Priests The cost of Power Word: Shield is being increased by 33%. While we wanted Discipline priests to be able to utilize this spell more often and with better results, we also did not want it to be the main spell (and often the only spell) used while in groups. We don't find this to be a particularly compelling playstyle and have found that it encourages players to avoid using other spells such as Penance. We believe that using a shield in a tight moment is totally appropriate, but we don't want it to be incredibly efficient to do so with more frequency than that. We realize that by making Power Word: Shield slightly more expensive for Discipline priests to cast that it might cause Holy priests to avoid using it. To that end, we are adding mana savings into the Body and Soul talent. The tooltip will not reflect this change until a future patch, however. Ideally, Holy priests should not notice much of a change to the Power Word: Shield costs. Shaman We are also applying a hotfix for Purification for the Restoration shaman passive from 10% to 25%. We think that shaman healing per second is not as competitive with other healers and while we hoped to bring down Holy priest and Holy paladins (in particular) in 4.0.6, which we did, shaman still appear to be behind. In this case, it is simply easier to buff Restoration shaman rather than nerf everyone else or rebalance the encounters. In Addition - Restoration Druids and Restoration Shaman We agree with the sentiment among some players that Restoration druids and Restoration shaman are lacking in the healing cooldown department. The shaman buff and Power Word: Shield adjustment above should bring all healers reasonably close in terms of throughput. The decision on who to bring then might end up being dictated by the strong cooldowns offered by paladins or priests. This isn't the kind of thing we can address via a hotix, but it is something we are looking at for the next major content patch. As always, we appreciate your continued constructive feedback and will do our best to keep you informed of ongoing developments. source And finally, Nethaera says on the ETA of the changes: Nethaera We anticipate having these in relatively soon (possibly as soon as sometime today). We'll do our best to let you know once they're in and we'll be updating the notes on the Hotfix thread as well. source
Nethaera addresses questions about CM process
Blue poster Nethaera took some time earlier today to answer a few questions posted on the official forums regarding the chain of command between community managers (CMs), developers, and of course, everyone's favorite crustacean, Ghostcrawler (Greg Street, lead systems designer). While Nethaera couldn't answer every question posed, she was able to give a few insights into the interplay between the various departments running the scenes, as well as a few tips about giving constructive feedback. Nethaera What examples are best to use to give GC and the Devs an accurate depiction of what has/has been happening? Information about your class, your playstyle, the types of issues you're running into such as whether you're using a certain spec or certain spells and abilities when you're running into issues. The more specific you can be, the better really. Numbers are good on one level, but sometimes the numbers don't say whether you're having "fun" or not. source Follow us after the break for more insights.
Nethaera's guide to getting the most from the forums
It's no secret that even after the move to the new digs, the forums can be kind of a rough place. Part of it can be the "squeaky wheel" phenomenon, of course. People don't often stop and make posts on a forum when they're happy about how something is going. Still, it can be a bit of a slog to get through sometimes. Nethaera wants you to get as much out of the forums as possible, however. Nethaera - Getting the Most out of the Forums We've gone through a lot of changes in the last year together. Between a brand new community site and a brand new expansion, there's been a lot to adjust to. We want to make sure that the experience everyone has on the forums is the best it can be and wanted to take some time to remind everyone of the things that haven't changed and the conduct that is expected while in them. source Some of the suggestions made seem obvious (read the terms of service and forum guidelines, for instance), but a lot of posts get closed for being off topic or extraneous, so it's probably helpful to go over them again. It's probably also fair to say that some of Neth's points fall under the category of "common sense," or what some folks call Wheaton's Law.
Guild experience no longer earned via guild achievements
Community Manager Nethaera hit the official World of Warcraft forums this afternoon to announce a change to guild experience that has been implemented today. Until now, guilds received guild experience for achievements earned. Going forward, this will no longer be the case, and it appears the change is retroactive as well. Any experience previously gained via guild achievements is no more. Nethaera We have decided to remove the added bonus of gaining Guild Experience from Guild Achievements earned. This change will realign Guild Achievements with our philosophy held for normal Achievements, which are intended to be predominantly their own reward (barring the rare exception of special achievements that grant an additional reward.) Previously, the experience reward had been seen as an additional side bonus and not something that should have been significantly skewing the advancement of guilds. During the beta, we greatly increased leveling speed across the board and since most characters were copied from templates, guild experience from Achievements didn't seem imbalanced. It has become clear that an imbalance does exist and should be addressed to ensure that guilds progress at the rates expected within the daily Guild Experience limits. For guilds that are currently above the normally possible experience limit, we will be readjusting it back to the expected limit once more. This will not affect Guild Reputation gains at this point in time. source
New changes to tanking cooldowns coming for Cataclysm
Blue poster Nethaera informed us today about a number changes coming to tanking cooldowns in Cataclysm (specifically, patch 4.0.3a). It seems an imbalance occurs in the current build when tanks stack mastery, leading to astronomical values of block. For now, specifics are only available for paladin, druid and warrior tanks. The post hints that cooldown changes for druid and death knight tanks will be coming later, once developers can get a better handle on the complexities of the classes' abilities. When asked for comment and analysis, Fox Van Allen's orc Grunk posited, "Me Grunk! Grunk fear change! Grunk smash!" Sadly, Grunk lacks the mental clarity to process the full meaning of all these forthcoming changes because as a warrior, Grunk does not stack intellect (and takes repeated physical blows to the head). If he did, the changes would be meaningless to him, as he'd have followed his dream and become an architect rather than becoming Orgrimmar's No. 3-ranked skull cleaver. In lieu of expert testimony from Grunk, we have the full blue post just after the break.
BlizzCon 2010: Blues among you
BlizzCon 2010 is almost here! If you're headed to BlizzCon 2010, you may notice something a little different this year. Unlike years past, when Community Team interaction was restricted largely to moderating panels, this year the blues will come to you -- on the convention floor, that is. Blue poster Nethaera announced this interesting change of procedure on the official forums earlier today. Nethaera For the past few years, you may have noticed Community Team members moderating the various BlizzCon panels. This year, things are a little bit different. Instead of moderating panels, we'll be providing BlizzCon updates on the forums, Facebook, and Twitter as well as mingling with attendees around the convention center. That's right, this year we will be among you and look forward to getting meet and talk with you during the convention. If you see one of us, feel free to stop us and say, "Hi". source This begs the question -- who's going to moderate all those panels? Regardless, this is apt to be a fun change for the Community Manager Team. So if you ever wanted to say hello to your favorite flickering candle or floating skull, keep your eyes peeled on the convention floor -- they could be right behind you!
Upcoming level and zone changes in Cataclysm
Nethaera (Blizzard community representative) has posted some new, interesting information about the leveling experience in Cataclysm. Mount Hyjal and Vashj'ir, the two opening zones of the expansion, will now require level 80 to enter and begin questing in. Betas go through a lot of balance and experience tweaking, and this new change hints at some issues with the previous leveling curve. In addition, creatures' health pools have been increased with the new level restrictions, and level 80 is required to use the dungeon finder for the opening 5-man instances of the expansion, Throne of the Tides and Blackrock Caverns. Nethaera -- Upcoming Level and Zone Changes In the next beta build the minimum level for entering and questing in Mount Hyjal and Vashj'ir will change from level 78 to level 80. All associated creature will have their levels increased to match the new flow. Additionally, after careful review and consideration we've decided to increase the hit point values of level 80+ Cataclysm creatures. The new hit point values are roughly double their previous values. Level 80 (OLD) 16400 Level 80 (NEW) 31000 Players will also now need to be level 80 in order to use the Dungeon Finder System for Throne of Tides and Blackrock Caverns. source
Blizzard responds to common Real ID concerns
Nethaera (Blizzard community manager) posted answers to some of the common Real ID questions and concerns on the forums today. With the PR disaster that was Blizzard's original Real ID on the forums concept, a follow-up aimed at easing tensions in the community -- even after the retraction -- was to be expected. While Blizzard offered some good news on things people have been requesting, they also dodged other points for the moment in true Blizzard style. Some highlights from the announcement: no current plans for an online handle to be used in game with Real ID instead of your name feature to disable your name's appearance in Friends of Friends list coming around the time of StarCraft II plans for some sort of unique ID on the WoW forums The full announcement is after the break.
